Bernardo Neves Cruz wins Brazil downhill champs

Watch Bernardo riding downhill in his home town of Ouro Preto in the video above

With the track in Bento Gonçalves being slippery, due to heavy rain the night before the final, Cruz went for it, gambling on using dry track tyres, which paid off.

On Saturday, with dry weather, Bernardo planned on using an aggressive tactic to put pressure on his main rivals. That strategy worked out well. He completed the course in 3m 05s, seven seconds faster than the second placed rider, Lucas Bertol.

Markolf Berchtold, Brazilian downhill legend, fell trying to reach Bernardo’s mark and completed his run in 3m 40s in third place,

“It was great!" Bernardo said aftwerwards. "On Saturday I made a great run and got very excited for Sunday.

"After the heavy rain overnight, I decided to use dry track tyres, as there were rocks in most part of the run, and that made the difference.

"Now I’ll focus and train even harder in order to get strong enough for the World Championship in September," he added.